HOSPITAL BREAD SUPPLIES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23118, 18 February 1937, Page 10

HOSPITAL BREAD SUPPLIES

REPLY TO CRITICISM QUALITY OF WHEAT AND FLOUR EFFECT OF GOVERNMENT CONTROL (Pep United Press association) AUCKLAND, Feb. 17. Strong exception to the criticism made at a meeting of the Auckland Hospital Board on Tuesday regarding the quality of the bread supplied to the board's institutions was taken, tonight by Mr S. J. Thomas, of the Crown Bakery Company, which holds the contract for the supply of bread. The remarks made on the subject by Mr W. G. Mulholland were described by Mr Thomas as an outburst not backed up by facts. “ When statements are made that the bread supply is unsatisfactory,” Mr Thomas said, “ attention must be paid to the question of the flour supply in the sense that the flour supplied by the Government is not fit for human consumption. The Minister of Industries and Commerce (Mr D. G. Sullivan) had experiments made in conjunction with the poultry industry to ascertain whether or not sprouted wheal was suitable for the feeding of poultry. The Government could not be sure that sprouted wheat was good enough to feed to poultry, but it has used, and is still using, sprouted wheat in the milling of flour to be used by bakers for human consumption. “ Only certain ingredients can be used in the baking of bread, the flour being the most important. It is absolute piffle to say that'the lowest grade of bread is being supplied to the Hospital Board. Low-grade bread can bo manufactured only from low-grade flour, and as the flour in New Zealand to-day is standardised there cannot be any great variation in the standard of bread baked throughout the Dominion. There is no doubt the quality of the bread of all bakers has suffered as the result of the Government control of flour and wheat in New Zealand. However, we have never had any complaints regarding the quality of our bread and we have never heard of our bread being condemned. The reported remarks of Mr Mulholland, therefore, came as a complete surprise.”